Fossils Provide Evidence For Evolution

Fossils Provide evidence For evolution
• The remains (or impressions) of dead animals or plants that lived in the
remote past are known as fossils.
• The fossils provide evidence for evolution. For example, a fossil bird
called Archaeopteryx looks like a bird but it has many other features
which are found in reptiles. This is because Archaeopteryx has feathered
wings like those of birds but teeth and tail like those of reptiles.
Archaeopteryx is, therefore, a connecting link between the reptiles and
birds, and hence suggests that the birds have evolved from the reptiles.
Thus, fossils provide the evidence that the present animals (and plants)
have originated from the previously existing ones through the process of
continuous evolution.
• How fossils are formed ?
• Usually, when organisms (plants or animals) die, their bodies will

decompose by the action of micro-organisms in the presence of oxygen,
moisture, etc. Sometimes, however, the conditions in the environment are
such (like absence of oxygen or moisture, etc), which do not let the body
of the organism to decompose completely. It is such body (or body part)
of an organism which we get as fossil on digging the earth (see Figure 30).
In many cases the soft parts of the organisms get decomposed and what
we get as a fossil is a skeleton of hard parts (like bones, etc). Even the soft
parts of the plants and animals (which usually decompose quickly) are
sometimes preserved as fossils in the form of their impressions inside the
rocks.
• For example, if a dead leaf gets caught in mud, it will not decompose
quickly. The mud around the leaf will set around it as a mould, gradually
harden to form a rock and retain the impression of the whole leaf. This
forms a leaf fossil which can be dug out from the earth a long time later .
The fossil of a dead insect caught in mud is also formed in a similar way
to leaf fossil. All such preserved impressions of the body parts of the
once living organisms are also called fossils.
•
•
• Fossils are obtained by digging into the earth.
• The age of fossils can be estimated in two ways :
• by the relative method, and by the carbon dating method.
• The relative method works like this : When we dig into the earth, we
find fossils at different depths. The fossils which we find in layers
closer to the surface of the earth are more recent; the fossils which are
found in deeper layers are older; whereas the fossils found in the
deepest layers of earth are the oldest ones.
• Fossils which we find today were once living objects. All the living
objects contain some carbon-14 atoms which are radioactive. When a
living object dies and forms fossil, its carbon-14 radioactivity goes on
decreasing gradually. In the carbon dating method, the age of fossils is
found by comparing the carbon-14 radioactivity left in fossils with the
carbon-14 radioactivity present in living objects today.
•
• There are various kinds of fossils.
• Some of the important fossils which have been studied are those of
ammonite, trilobite and dinosaur.
• Ammonites were the invertebrate animals (molluscs) with a flat, coiled,

spiral shell which lived in the sea .
• The estimation of the age of ammonite fossils have told us that they
are about 180 million years old. This means that ammonites lived in
the sea about 180 million years ago. Another invertebrate animal fossil
which has been studied is that of trilobite . Trilobites were marine
arthropods which were common between 400 to 600 million years ago.
Dinosaurs are extinct carnivorous or herbivorous reptiles (The word
‘dinosaur’ means ‘terrible lizard‘).
• The estimation of the age of dinosaur fossils have told us that they
first appeared on earth about 250 million years ago and became extinct
about 65 million years ago.
• It is clear from the above discussion that we can even study about
those species which are extinct (no longer exist), by
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
• Charles Robert Darwin gave the theory of evolution in his famous book
‘The Origin of Species’.
• The theory of evolution proposed by Darwin is known as ‘The Theory

of Natural Selection’.
• This theory is called the theory of natural selection because it suggests

that the best adapted organisms are selected by nature to pass on their
characteristics (or traits) to the next generation. Darwin’s theory of
evolution applies to plants as well as animals.
• Darwin’s theory of evolution can be described as follows :
• 1. Within any population, there is natural variation. Some individuals

have more favourable variations than others.
• 2. Even though all species produce a large number of offsprings,

populations remain fairly constant naturally.
• 3. This is due to the struggle between members of the same species

and different species for food, space and mate.
• 4. The struggle for survival within populations eliminates the unfit

individuals. The fit individuals possessing favourable variations
survive and reproduce. This is called natural selection (or survival of
the fittest).
• 5. The individuals having favourable variations pass on these

variations to their progeny from generation to generation.
• 6. These variations when accumulated over a long period of time, lead

to the origin of a new species.
•
•
•
•
•
• We will now understand Darwin’s theory of evolution by ‘natural
selection’ by taking an example.
• No two animals are ever exactly alike.
• So some changes always appear when animals produce their progeny

by sexual reproduction.
• For example, one of the progeny may be tall (having long legs) than
the other progeny. Thus, there may be a variation of height in the
progeny .
• Now, the advantage of long legs to the progeny is that when no food
(grass, etc.) is available on the ground, then this progeny having long
• legs can reach the leaves on tall trees, eat them as food and survive .
On the other hand, the progeny which have short height (due to short
legs) cannot reach the leaves on tall trees, they will not get any food,
they will starve and hence die . Thus, nature has selected the animal
with long legs to survive (because it is the fittest animal under these
circumstances). Now, since long legs help in survival, the long-legged
animals will live long enough to produce their offsprings. The
offspring will inherit long legs.
• So, all the future generations will have long legged animals . In this
way, the animals having short legs have evolved into animals having
long legs due to variation. This is an example of evolution.
•
• We can now define natural selection as follows :
• Natural selection is the process of evolution of a species whereby

characteristics which help individual organisms to survive and
reproduce are passed on to their offspring, and those characteristics
which do not help are not passed on.
• ‘how the variations (which lead to origin of new species) arise’. With
the progress in genetics, the source of variations was explained to be
the ‘genes’. Genes vary in natural population. Genetic variation is the
raw material of evolution. So, the Darwin’s theory was modified
accordingly. These days, the most accepted theory of evolution is the
Synthetic Theory of Evolution in which the origin of species is based
on the interaction of ‘genetic variation’ and ‘natural selection’.
• Sometimes, a species (a type of animal or plant) may completely die

out. It may become extinct.
SPECIATION
1. the formation of new and distinct species in the course of
evolution.
• A species is a population of organisms consisting of similar

individuals which can breed together and produce fertile
offspring. Species can be of plants or of animals.
• Wheat, paddy, sunflower, lotus, mango, neem, humans, tiger,

dog and cat, etc., are all examples of various types of species.
• The human beings who look so different from each other in

terms of size, colour and looks are said to belong to the same
species (Homo sapiens) because they can interbreed to
produce fertile offsprings (sons and daughters).
• The process by which new species develop from the existing

species is known as speciation. In simple words, the
formation of new species is called speciation. We will now
explain how new species are formed from the existing species
of various populations.
• In most of the cases, new species are formed when the
population of same species splits into two separate groups
which then get isolated from each other geographically by the
barriers such as mountain ranges, rivers or the sea.
• The geographical isolation of the two groups of population

leads to their reproductive isolation due to which no genes
are exchanged between them. However, breeding continues
within the isolated populations producing more and more
generations. Over the generations, the processes of genetic
drift (random change in gene frequency), and natural
selection operate in different ways in the two isolated groups
of population and make them more and more different from
each other.
• After thousands of years, the individuals of these isolated

groups of population become so different that they will be
incapable of reproducing with each other even if they happen
to meet again. We say that two new species have been formed.
From the above discussion we conclude that the important
factors which could lead to the rise (or formation) of a new
species are the following :
• (i) Geographical isolation of a population caused by various

types of barriers (such as mountain ranges, rivers and sea).
The geographical isolation leads to reproductive isolation due
to which there is no flow of genes between separated groups
of population.
• (ii) Genetic drift caused by drastic changes in the frequencies

of particular genes by chance alone.
•
• (iii ) Variations caused in individuals due to natural selection.
It should be noted that geographical isolation is the major
factor in the speciation of sexually reproducing animals
•
•
• because it interrupts the flow of genes between their isolated
populations through the gametes. The geographical isolation,
however, cannot be a major factor in the speciation of a self-
pollinating plant species because it does not have to look to
other plants for its process of reproduction to be carried out.
Geographical isolation also cannot be a major factor in the
speciation of an asexually reproducing organism because it
does not require any other organism to carry out
reproduction.

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Fossils Provide evidence For evolution

• How fossils are formed ?

• Usually, when organisms (plants or animals) die, their bodies will

• The age of fossils can be estimated in two ways :

• by the relative method, and by the carbon dating method.

• Ammonites were the invertebrate animals (molluscs) with a flat, coiled,

• The theory of evolution proposed by Darwin is known as ‘The Theory

• This theory is called the theory of natural selection because it suggests

• Darwin’s theory of evolution can be described as follows :

• 1. Within any population, there is natural variation. Some individuals

• 2. Even though all species produce a large number of offsprings,

• 3. This is due to the struggle between members of the same species

• 4. The struggle for survival within populations eliminates the unfit

• 5. The individuals having favourable variations pass on these

• 6. These variations when accumulated over a long period of time, lead

• No two animals are ever exactly alike.

• So some changes always appear when animals produce their progeny

• Natural selection is the process of evolution of a species whereby

• Sometimes, a species (a type of animal or plant) may completely die

• A species is a population of organisms consisting of similar

• Wheat, paddy, sunflower, lotus, mango, neem, humans, tiger,

• The human beings who look so different from each other in

• The process by which new species develop from the existing

• The geographical isolation of the two groups of population

• After thousands of years, the individuals of these isolated

• (i) Geographical isolation of a population caused by various

• (ii) Genetic drift caused by drastic changes in the frequencies

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